Town Hall railway station
}} Town Hall railway station is the second-busiest railway station on the Sydney Trains network (after Central station), located in Sydney, Australia. Located underground, it is situated in the Sydney central business district, under the street in front of the Sydney Town Hall, which the station is named after, about 1.2 km north of Central. History The station is built on the site of Sydney's earliest colonial cemetery. In 2008, part of this cemetery was being excavated from under the Town Hall. The station opened on 28 February 1932. It was built with six platforms, which were split over two levels with three platforms on each level. When the station opened, only four of the platforms were in use: platforms 1, 2 and 3 on the upper level and platform 6, served by escalators, on the lower level. The other two platforms were built in preparation for a proposed western suburbs line from the city to Gladesville, as envisaged under the Bradfield scheme. This line was never built, and the platforms (4 and 5) remained disused until they were taken over for use for the Eastern Suburbs line when it was constructed in the 1970s. The station concourse had a major restructure in 2005 when the shops inside were closed to make way for the increasing crowds. In April 2006, Transport Minister John Watkins announced plans for a $2 million inquiry into concept designs for upgrading the station. The station requires upgrading due to a large number of people using the station per day (70,000), and needs congestion relief to cater for an expected 2% yearly increase in commuters using the station. Clyde Livingstone, a former Mayor of Burwood Council has been the Station Master since 1982. Station Configuration Town Hall has two levels, each with three platforms - physically two island platforms, but set up so that one faces two tracks and the other faces the other track. The station has stairs, escalators and lifts connecting the concourse with the platforms, providing Easy Access for wheelchairs. These facilities were constructed during 2003-2004. Stairs connect the concourse with platforms 1-3, while platforms 4-6 are connected via escalators. The western side of the platform area (platforms 3/5/6) are served by one lift, and the eastern side (platforms 1/2/4) are accessed by the other. The station is an easy walk to the Galeries Victoria and World Square shopping centres, with walkways linking directly to the station. It is also linked to other shopping centres such as the Queen Victoria Building, Town Hall Square and the Pavilion Plaza. Other popular City destinations within access of the station include Darling Harbour and the Chinatown precinct. The Sydney CBD's flagship Woolworths supermarket is also linked with the station concourse. Town Hall is one of a very few stations on the Sydney Trains network to use taller Opal gates that cannot be easily jumped over, helping crack down on fare evasion, as well as allowing faster access to the platforms. Incident On 23rd August 2019, a Tangara set, T50, had a roof hatch come loose from driving trailer car D6223, near platform 3. The hatch was dangerously close to overhead wiring. Power had to be isolated so that the situation could be properly taken care of, as running the train to the North Shore and over the Harbour Bridge would have risked bringing down power lines. This resulted in an entire service day of delays and cancellations, with replacement buses being unable to handle the demand of passengers. It is likely that T50 may have hit an external object prior to entering the City tunnels, as scratches were detected on the affected hatch. Platforms and Services The station services Sydney Trains services of several lines: the Northern, Western, North Shore and Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra lines and the lines served by the City Circle, namely the Bankstown Line, the Airport & East Hills Line, the Inner West & Leppington Line. Some South Coast line services which originate from Bondi Junction service the station in peak hours. The station's configuration means that easy cross-platform transfer is available for some services. Stairs and lifts connect the two platform levels without need to return to the concourse. The station closes on the last train service and reopens on the first train service in the morning. The station is served by eighteen to twenty-four trains per hour in each direction, with additional trains during weekday peak hours. Map Category:Sydney Trains Stations Category:Stations Category:City Circle Category:Suburban stations Category:Stations with disabled access Category:NSW TrainLink Stations Category:Sydney Trains Category:City of Sydney